A river slips

a river slips

in shifting leaves

sifting. a river sifts

and falls to pieces

in which not seen

(this we never see)

in splices.

if fall a great distance, if a river

fall shelter, if a river fall find

several miles slightly off-center.

It took centuries

of falling—most rivers

are not actually

flowing, but falling

the length of themselves

times the sun.